Proving that Paul may not be Harvard's type, but he is Harvard's typo is the following discovered by alert reader and colleague Philip Jenkins....Paul the Covert???I have to share this.One of the classic works on Judaism and early Christianity is Alan Segal’s Rebecca’s Children (1986). Through the centuries, debate has raged over exactly what St. Paul was doing when he took the Jesus Movement on its new directions. I am struck, therefore, to find that the Harvard University Press pa … [Read more...]

Looking for a good textbook to introduce your audience to both the theology and the ethics of the NT? Well IVP is producing an edited down, simplified version of my The Indelible Image in a 2 volume paperback set. It should be out in the late Fall, and I believe it will be Kindle-ized as well :) The way this stands out from other volumes is that it doesn't just treat either NT theology or NT ethics, but treats them both together, just as they appear in the Bible itself, and deals with their … [Read more...]

In this final post on my visit to Nova Scotia, I will take you on a lovely walk through one of the finest Arboretums (both gardens and greenhouse) I've ever seen as a small college. The Irving Arboretum is in addition one of the newest buildings on campus, and is the very spot where major lectures are given. Here is the schematic of the arboretum....The plants shown above are on the garden trails, and so can grow outdoors in Nova Scotia. What follows are the plants in the green … [Read more...]

When I came to Wolfville, I must admit, I did not expect it to be not much different in size and design from Wilmore Kentucky--- but it isn't. Like Wilmore, it is a town, when the students are there, of about 6,000 people, and like Wilmore it has exactly two main streets, one of which Acadia University, once Acadia Baptist College, is on. The town is full of beautiful little cottages that could be founded in any little New England town,But what dominates the landscape is the University, … [Read more...]

As I mentioned earlier, Nova Scotia is very much like northern New England in terms of terrain and flora and fawn. It is also like northern New England in its little fishing villages full of lobster pots and nets. This little village, called Hall's Harbor looks almost identical to Rockport in Massachusetts right down to the red barn.There is also the same rocky and scenic coastline and very very cold water! No swimmers here.Hall's Harbor has a nice lobster restaurant which Ginny … [Read more...]

Besides the Covenanter Church in Grand Pre, there is also the Grand Pre Winery, which specializes in ice wines, wines in which one has left the grapes on the vine into the winter months, and then harvested them. To be honest, I had never heard of ice wines before I visited Nova Scotia, but I gather they are also produced in snowbound U.S. places like Buffalo as well. The process is such that this concentrates the sugars in the grape (and also reduces the alcohol content) with the result being … [Read more...]

When I landed in Halifax, I was taken immediately to Victoria's Inn in Wolfville, where I was to stay all week, and where, clearly, the Queen had never stayed. It is a... wait for it...Victorian Inn converted into a B+B. Once I stepped out of the car at the Inn I was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of lilacs everywhere. The lilacs and the horse chestnuts and much else was all in bloom. It felt much like a Spring day in Kentucky, even though it was early June. It was 70F. … [Read more...]

Nova Scotia--- New Scotland. It's almost an island off the east coast of Canada. It's where various immigrants came, escaping harsh conditions in Scotland and elsewhere, only to discover that Nova Scotia was not exactly the Bahamas. For a good many of these immigrants Nova Scotia was terra incognita-- an unknown land, and that's still true today for many Americans. The sign I took a picture of above in Wolfville where Acadia University is (where one finds Acadia Divinity College, Craig Evans … [Read more...]

Human beings are endlessly curious about the future. Wall Street wants to know economic trends. Pollsters want to figure out political trends. Gossip magazines want to know relational trends, and so it goes. Human beings are always looking to the horizon, and wondering what's coming next. Sometimes this has led to overly rosy proclamations about how technology and science are going to solve all our problems. On the other hand it has also led to overly pessimistic predictions as well. Of … [Read more...]